Posted on 07/26/2009 6:14:03 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Section 1. : The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. : The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at caselaw.lp.findlaw.com ...
FindLaw's commentary: Ratification of the Twenty-fourth Amendment marked the culmination of an endeavor begun in Congress in 1939 to effect elimination of the poll tax as a qualification for voting in federal elections. Property qualifications extend back to colonial days, but the poll tax itself as a qualification was instituted in eleven States of the South following the end of Reconstruction, although at the time of the ratification of this Amendment only five States still retained it. Congress viewed the qualification as ''an obstacle to the proper exercise of a citizen's franchise'' and expected its removal to ''provide a more direct approach to participation by more of the people in their government.'' Congress similarly thought a constitutional amendment necessary, inasmuch as the qualifications had previously escaped constitutional challenge on several grounds. However, not long after ratification of the Amendment Congress by statute had impuned the continuing validity of the poll tax as a qualification in state elections and the Supreme Court had voided it as a violation of the equal protection clause.
In Harman v. Forssenius, the Court struck down a Virginia statute which eliminated the poll tax as an absolute qualification for voting in federal elections and gave federal voters the choice either of paying the tax or of filing a certificate of residence six months before the election. Viewing the latter requirement as imposing upon voters in federal elections an onerous procedural requirement which was not imposed on those who continued to pay the tax, the Court unanimously held the law to conflict with the new Amendment by penalizing those who chose to exercise a right guaranteed them by the Amendment.
WikiPedia commentary: Congress proposed the Twenty-fourth Amendment on August 27, 1962. The following states ratified the amendment:Ratification was completed on January 23, 1964. The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states:
- Illinois -- November 14, 1962
- New Mexico -- December 3, 1962
- Oregon -- January 25, 1963
- Montana -- January 28, 1963
- West Virginia -- February 1, 1963
- New York -- February 4, 1963
- Maryland -- February 6, 1963
- California -- February 7, 1963
- Alaska -- February 11, 1963
- Rhode Island -- February 14, 1963
- Indiana -- February 19, 1963
- Utah -- February 20, 1963
- Michigan -- February 20, 1963
- Colorado -- February 21, 1963
- Ohio -- February 27, 1963
- Minnesota -- February 27, 1963
- New Jersey -- March 5, 1963
- Hawaii -- March 6, 1963
- North Dakota -- March 7, 1963
- Idaho -- March 8, 1963
- Washington -- March 14, 1963
- Vermont -- March 15, 1963
- Nevada -- March 19, 1963
- Connecticut -- March 20, 1963
- Tennessee -- March 21, 1963
- Pennsylvania -- March 25, 1963
- Wisconsin -- March 26, 1963
- Kansas -- March 28, 1963
- Massachusetts -- March 28, 1963
- Nebraska -- April 4, 1963
- Florida -- April 18, 1963
- Iowa -- April 24, 1963
- Delaware -- May 1, 1963
- Missouri -- May 13, 1963
- New Hampshire -- June 12, 1963
- Kentucky -- June 27, 1963
- Maine -- January 16, 1964
- South Dakota -- January 23, 1964
This amendment was specifically rejected by the following state:
- Virginia -- February 25, 1977
- North Carolina -- May 3, 1989
- Alabama -- 2002
- Texas -- May 22, 2009
The following states have not ratified the amendment:
- Mississippi -- December 20, 1962
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Wyoming
|
|||
Gods |
Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
||
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
The federal republic signed its own death warrant with this amendment.
Agreed. People who pay no taxes always vote for the candidate who will give them the most loot..
Amen. Exactly right.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.